Ouroboros Spine mitappuk ⊯

kukutux carried a small length of soft otter-skin to the ulaq of her cloudberry sister and sivullik.

moonwoman did not truly approach. she set her offering at small white paws and called for @Lótë.

soon it would be time to bring their children together. it would be a sacred day, moonglow's first bloodlines settled into the good earth of the village.

her jadestone eyes could not keep from delicately searching for any toddling movements, though she kept her gaze shielded, respectful.

sorry for the wait!

the morning dove had recently settled the pups down for a morning nap -- no easy task with four puppies to soothe to sleep -- and now lay stretched out sphinxlike enjoying the brief moment of calm and quiet that had enveloped the ulaq. she was listening to the lullaby of birdcalls and long-forgotten raindrops falling from the canopy (it seemed the weather had washed away the summer entirely) when kukutux's voice joined the symphony. grinning, the she-wolf rose to her paws and silently padded outside, glancing back to assure that the cubs still slumbered.

the moonwolf sat as lótë herself had done so recently, gaze searching but with strained courteously. the mother might've invited her in to meet the tiniest Baptistes but she didn't want to wake them -- and admittedly, adrastus' words regarding ink's differences still rang harshly in her ears. much as the ostrega held her daughter's disability close to her chest, the cloudberry wolf clung protectively to her child. 

"my friend," she greeted warmly, moving to brush her cheek along the moonbeam curve of kukutux's. "i would invite you in but the babies are napping right now," she informed the alpha, somewhat regrettably, with an apologetic grimace as she glanced towards the den -- an ear flickering as it caught the sleepy sigh of one of her daughters.

"how are you doing? you seemed a bit worn out the last time we spoke..i hope your girls aren't draining too much of your health." it was said gently, somewhat hesitantly, as if afraid she might cause some offense with her concern. of course, the duck was as lovely as ever -- even if a bit wan -- and she certainly didn't wish to imply that the twins were troublesome.

always worth it! <3

in the village of her birth hour, the hearth of another man and woman was not for the others to look upon. it was not seemly to be seen looking into the ulaq of another. such things would be told, and in time. a village was not a large place.

there were two circles for this reason: that each side might be shared.

but she was moonwoman, and so it was different for her. these things were her responsibility to know.

adrastus had not returned to his duties as sivullik, and lótë — her sister seemed weaker, beyond that of a mother with many children.

kukutux had shared with no one outside her own den the truth of kausiut's foot, her daughter's eye. each day it became more clear, that the creeping water-eater had come to her in childbirth. "i am stronger now. twins wake together. eat together. cry together. i think that they have secret words between them." she smiled, but her eyes asked the silent questions her politeness would not allow.

"aiolos and sialuk give to me much helping." she thought of what she had asked her sun man, and knew that he would do this if it was wished. "soon i will go out beyond the forest."

for a long moment, kukutux said nothing. and then she reached out to cover lótë's paw softly with her own. "if my husband had come back after so long of being away, i do not think i would know how many things there would be to feel."

carefully, lest her own selfishness in the matter spill over.

whoops, other IC events messed this part of her timeline up too. rather than edit again to write in Adrastus' dispersal, I'm just gonna pretend this happened shortly after The Thread and Lote doesn't yet know that Adrastus has left or something like that lol. we can try and wrap this one up if you'd like for continuity. :) (also, the thread where she asks lote to marry aiolos & kukutux/or maybe it was just aiolos? but that thread they have open now lol, im also just gonna play it as if she doesn't know adrastus is gone yet. we might have to have another updated thread later on where lote says yes after realizing she can stay in moonglow and all. I'm so sorry for all the confusion as i figure things out IC!)

  

the doe's lips curved with a grin -- faintly proud, that of an aunt being regaled with tales of a sister's little ones. she had seen the twins in brief snatches but it was kukutux's nuclear family who usually helped to look after them in their youngest days. similarly, the gamma's litter was still largely dependent upon her and the two clutches of children had not had a chance to meet the other nor their extended family at great length. even so, lótë felt she loved them already -- so often did she think of them, so long had she anticipated their arrival and the chance to know them. it seemed only days ago -- and yet, also years -- since the two had been lazing about in the sun and murmuring over their swollen bellies. 

"that's great," she smiled, gratified that her friend had such a good support system -- that she had not suffered what lótë had. "anytime you would like to go to your spirit places or take a walk, anything like that, i would be happy to keep an eye on them -- or even if sialuk or aiolos might need a break too." she was happiest surrounded by the children. it was easier to forget what had happened for a time and they all had a way of sweeping her up in their carefree, colorful worlds where laughter came so easily. 

when the duck edged delicately around the subject of adrastus, the cloudberry's face dimmed ever so slightly. it was not that her sister had inspired the pall that stole the glimmer of life from her thin features but as if the façade of being fine slipped just so. she felt ready to speak about what had happened -- doubly reassured that kukutux would not judge her, knowing that her own daughter had been touched by the spirits.

"i was in shock, i admit, but i was happy to see him. angry too, that he had been gone so long -- even though that was dreadful of me. i knew he'd gone to hunt down the fox-pelted woman who conspired with nuak and he suffered while he was away. so, i tried to keep any ill feelings at bay. i was just happy that he was home -- or trying to be."

she swallowed thickly. "i bade him come and meet his children and for one, perfect second, he was proud -- or maybe i only imagined that. but when i told him of inkalorë's differences, he claimed that they were defective. he wanted to know how visible their genitals were," here she could not help the way her ears fluttered in time with her rising blood pressure, nor how her lips twitched as if they desired to pull over her teeth at the very thought. "he thought we would be better off raising ink as a boy."

"his expression did not change much when he looked upon wilwarin -- for she is rather tiny and weak. she fights for every breath she takes but i do not know what sickness plagues her. she does not even seem sickly. just small, frail." perhaps it was simply that the dove was too small and had carried too many, maybe it was all that she had undergone during her pregnancy. or mayhaps it was nothing more than genetics or the spirits' will.

"now...i hope that he will find the strength to ignore the influences of others. that he can be a father to his children. but i don't think i can forgive him. my heart has hardened like rawhide left in the sun." she wanted only that her nestlings should be okay on the other side of this. that she could be enough for them, alone, should adrastus fail to let go of his prejudice.

"he has soured the meaning of 'husband' and 'wife' as moonglow knows it. he thinks he can claim dominion over me simply because i have taken his name," a rattled breath of revulsion escaped her, bile rising in her throat as her eyes sought the trees for a moment. did he hide there even now -- a monster to join her uncle in the visions of the night?

"i will be lótë baptiste no longer."